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first home made hammock

Crossed over to the dark side.... I built my hammock body out of 210 nylon and it's tarp from 1.9 oz coated ripstop(seam sealed). My final weight is 2.9#s a lot more than I anticipated. I tested it out on a section hike of the AT for 5d 4nights in Nth Ga. I an pleasantly supprised at how much I enjoy hammock camping. We sufferd throught a troppical depression and cold wet nights(upper 40s) so I think its safe to say Ive tested it out.

In the first pic you can see how my tarp is always attatched and that is also how I pack it in the stuff sac, only with the hammock inside the tarp like a snake skin. It feeds out real easy in the rain and nothing but the tarp gets wet. My hammock also hangs from the tarp guy line and the hammock is tied just short of its lenght so it always hangs at the same pitch. I played around with it until I found the pitch comfy to me.

I also set up the tarp with 1.5" of extra lenght at the head so it can be pulled down to block out wind or rain blown in. you can kind of see this in the 3rd pic...

Since I am new to all of this I would like to her your thoughts on my set up and any pros or cons I should try to work out.

you could save your self some weight on the tarp by making the next one out of silnylon which should weigh about 1.3ozs per sq yard.

if you run into problems w/ the lines on the end of the hammock getting tangled, you may want to try the next hammock w/ ends that are gathered & whipped.
...tim

Thanks for the input, Where have you guys found silnylon? I have found it to be very expensive...

also I think I like the lines this way. I know you cant tell but each end is one line run through loops of webbing on the hammock so you can adjust it at any time to get taught sides or a lose center...But I also know I could save a lot of weight with it whipped on the ends.

I got some from Walmart's $1.00 rack a few weeks back...it's only 48" wide though...I am going back tomorrow to see if they have any more.

yep, some times they have most of the wide stuff on one side & most of the narrow stuff on the other, but there's no guarantee.
it's best to unfold a few feet & check the width right there in the store.

For fabrics, 210D is heavy stuff, go with 1.9 for your next hammock body.

Also the width is usually printed on the label for the core that the fabric is wrapped around. Saves some messing about if its still rolled that way when you're buying

Also whipped ends should be lighter than the multiple lines type.

Thanks, I agree with all. I am now starting to gather ideas for #2. I plan to make a winter hammock for my Nov trip to GSMNP. I think I am going to sew in a down under quilt and have 3/4 of the top covered with ripstop then the last 1/4 with netting to help vent condinsation. anyone try this? is it worth it?

Thanks, I agree with all. I am now starting to gather ideas for #2. I plan to make a winter hammock for my Nov trip to GSMNP. I think I am going to sew in a down under quilt and have 3/4 of the top covered with ripstop then the last 1/4 with netting to help vent condinsation. anyone try this? is it worth it?